


On Alfrid Lickspittle, Thorin Oakenshield and the redemption of the latter through the actions of the first

by bodysnatch3r



Series: The Hobbit Meta [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-13 00:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5686717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bodysnatch3r/pseuds/bodysnatch3r
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brief piece of meta regarding Alfrid and Thorin Oakenshield and the way their character arcs compliment each other.<br/><a href="http://bodysnatch3r.tumblr.com/post/105607956873/on-alfrid-lickspittle-thorin-oakenshield-and-the">Originally posted on tumblr on 19 December 2014.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	On Alfrid Lickspittle, Thorin Oakenshield and the redemption of the latter through the actions of the first

Okay. So I’ve seen lots of people saying that Alfrid’s presence in the movie was “unnecessary”. Before I start talking about what I think of Alfrid’s character and  _why_ I think he is actually really, really important to how the audience is supposed to view Thorin Oakenshield, I want to thank Vee ([tortoisesoul](http://tmblr.co/mt00uHTeqH04P8RftFC592g)) for pointing this out to me as we were driving home from the movie last night.

Alfrid is, by all means, an _extremely_ negative character. He’s worse than Thranduil, who ultimately fights, he’s worse than the Master, who doesn’t fight but is also endearingly jerky, in the way someone who gets crushed by a dragon falling on his head while trying to run away with an entire starved township’s gold can be. 

But Alfrid? He is a classist, vicious, cruel, subtle and all-around terrible guy. He abuses Bard’s kids. He treats the people of Laketown horribly. He’s in it for the gold, and nothing but. And in the end, he doesn’t even redeem himself by fighting. He just runs away (and Bard lets him, which I found wonderful as far as his character is concerned, because the one point the movie stresses over and over is that _Bard is just a good guy trying to keep himself and his kids alive_. He holds no grudge against Alfrid, as long as he runs away with whatever gold he’s found and _never comes back_ ) and is never heard of again.

Another character who is  _initially_ shown as being in it for the gold and nothing but is Thorin.

And here is why I think yes, _that much_ Alfrid was a tad unnecessary and yes, the crossdressing trope could have been avoided, we already have more than enough movies with that kind of crass humor, and  _yes_ , half of his screen time could have been handed over to more development for Fili’s character but ultimately  _we as an audience need him to understand Thorin_.

Why?

Because we start, straight off the bat, with ill Thorin. With unhinged, unreasonable, dissociating Thorin. Looking away as Laketown burns. All that matters is the hoard. He greets his sister-sons from the waves and waves of gold of Erebor. He bows to them and throws them a ruby and tells them, “Welcome, my sister-sons, to Erebor,” where Erebor is nothing but the gold, and when the battle starts all he needs is to hide the gold and keep it safe.

Exactly like what Alfrid does, grabbing the money he’s found and running. 

We are led to read Thorin as greedy, as dangerous, as angry, as _terrifying_ (the “I will not part with a single coin” line following the mithril shirt scene is downright chilling). He physically abuses Fili (grabs him and tries to force him to throw Bilbo off the battlements), he threatens Dwalin he’ll kill him, he nearly kills Bilbo.

And yet, unlike Alfrid,  _he doesn’t run_. When the battle comes knocking at his doorstep, although he cowers from it initially because his illness won’t let him do anything else, he ultimately knows he must face whatever is coming at him.

He is  _sick_ , he’s not greedy or selfish. He’s not Alfrid, who is a worm and a “weasel”. He does not forget who he is, a king, simply in favour of a few pretty jewels.

When the time comes, he goes out to fight. When the time comes, he doesn’t cower. He is not Alfrid, who is only animated by greed. Thorin is complex. Thorin is _ill_ ,which is the _difference_. He is not like this by nature.

By the end of the movie, we know Thorin is a  _hero_. Alfrid is not. Thorin redeems himself. Alfrid shows us what  _real_ greed looks like, what real cruelty looks like, what real selfishness looks like, and as such we have something to compare Thorin to and realise that no,  _that’s not what he is_. He is not the madness nor the dragon illness. He is a tired, scared, terrified jumbled mess of emotions and untreated PTSD and depression. There is so much more to him than what he seems to be in the first 3/4s of the movie.

Alfrid’s only defining characteristic and characterisation is “I need  _all_ the gold and I will do  _anything_ to get to it just as long as it doesn’t put me in danger”. Usually, I’d bemoan that and classify it as lazy writing.

In this case, it’s clear he’s been written that way to redeem Thorin in the eyes of the viewer, and remind them that what Alfrid is is  _light years_ away from what Thorin ever risked being.


End file.
